The Owners Review: A Brutal and Tense Break In Thriller

Release date: September 4, 2020
Running time: 92 minutes
Starring: Maisie Williams, Sylvester McCoy, Rita Tushingham, Jake Curran, Andrew Ellis, Ian Kenny

A group of friends think they found the perfect easy score: an empty house with a safe full of

cash. But when the elderly couple that lives there comes home early the tables are suddenly

turned. As a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues the would be thieves are left to fight to

save themselves from a nightmare they could never have imagined.

The owners is a movie that turns everything on its head.  The film starts off as a simple, but destructive break in as the friends try to find a safe full of cash.  However, when the unsuspecting owners get home, things take a turn.  The cast of the owners do an admirable job, but the stars of the film are Maisie Williams and Sylvester McCoy.  Williams is forced to carry a lot of the emotional burden in this film, and as the protagonist she is constantly on screen.  Her ordeal is harrowing at times and she displays a lot of mixed emotions throughout the film.  However, she is outshone by Sylvester McCoy as Dr. Huggins, who has such an amazing delivery.  He is both sinister and helpful at the same time, and does so much to put everyone at ease, while still evoking a sense of dread.  The rest of the relatively small cast are all well cast and acted, with each character playing an important, exaggerated role int his break in thriller.  

The Owners is billed as a thriller and it definitely fits that criteria.  The movie has tension in spades, and part of that is just that you don't know what will happen next.  The film does a good job of hiding the motivations of many characters, so you are not sure exactly what will happen next.  And even when an action is hinted at or about to occur, the viewer is really left in the dark over whether the person will go through with it.  And some of these tense scenes result in surprisingly brutal encounters that the film does not shy away from.  In fact, The Owners should be commended on these scenes for the good effects and lack of CG.  These scenes are brutal and without any distracting CG, you get realistic looking violence without anything distracting to take you out of the moment.  The story has plenty of twists and turns, but sort of devolves at the end.  And although the ending is a surprising revelation, some aspects of it seem to come out of nowhere.  One a second viewing there were some hints dropped, but on your first viewing it might come as a random surprise.  However, in the end the Owners is a brutal thriller that shows that there is no easy score.

The Owners turns the traditional break in thriller on its head with some brutal scenes, a ton of tension, and a good cast of characters.

Rent it.

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